Apex reviews?

[Reef man 89]

I am think about buy a full apex from BRS. but why are there so many bad reviews? There are alot about probes are junk, can't connect to fusion, eb8 broke out of box. Now after reading them I dont know if I should pull the trigger. 800 is alot of money to burn if it's junk right out of box. what do you all think?

 

[Greenreef75]

I have the same concerns and questions.

 

[Jay Z]

I bought the whole thing from brs. I didn’t have any issues out of the box. Unit worked fine, same with power bars.

I had it disconnect once and it wouldn’t connect on its own. Had to hold the reset button for 6 seconds to re connect.

Probes had been good. Took a couple tries for me to get the salinity to read correct. My orp runs high too.

So honestly I really haven’t had any issues with it.

Far as controllers go, it’s a war. People will say anything to get you to try “their” preferred brand. So don’t take all reviews at face value.

 

[Billldg]

I am think about buy a full apex from BRS. but why are there so many bad reviews? There are alot about probes are junk, can't connect to fusion, eb8 broke out of box. Now after reading them I dont know if I should pull the trigger. 800 is alot of money to burn if it's junk right out of box. what do you all think?

You have to remember that the only people that leave reviews r the people who have had problems. Their are many many more out their that haven't had issues. I do feel that they need to work on the probes so they r more reliable, but at the same time people need to maintain their probes and they don't. So you see its a double edge'd sword. I own a Apex and love it, I did have a problem initially with the PH probe out of the gate, but was able to do a manual setup on it and it has worked great since. I feel you can't go wrong with a Apex unit, others will try to steer you towards the GHL, which ever route you go you can't go wrong as they are both top notch controllers. Remember though, GHL has had just as many problems with equipment as Neptune, their just isn't as many GHL users at this time yet and thus not as many complaints.

 

[smartwater101]

Long story short: Getting sucked into the Neptune ecosystem is one of my biggest regrets in this hobby. The build quality and reliability is atrocious. For what these products cost, you should expect much more.

Their customer service isn't great either and their warranty policies are designed to make you jump through as many hoops as possible so they don't have to take responsibility.

If you haven't been sucked into that ecosystem yet... DON'T.

Look into products (like GHL) that are known for realizability. Every product will have issues of course, but with Neptune you'll spend more time worrying about your controller than the tank.

Side but related note: I'd recommend looking through the forums for people who have actually used both Neptune and GHL. You see very quickly which one people prefer and why.

 

[Reef man 89]

Yea I have noticed some people say it’s the best and some say it’s junk. We are not talking about. $200 skimmer. That why I just ask. Thanks to everyone with there input.

 

[Mical]

The only gripe I have with Neptune Apex equipment is the cheap chinese optical sensors they use on ATK. Other than that I've had great luck with their controllers. Re: Customer service, in the past they were really bad but they've stepped up their game - I had a question last weekend and didn't expect to hear from them until following Monday. To my surprise they responded Sat morning early and replied multiple times throughout the weekend. I have NO complaints on their customer service.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I’ve had great success with my Apex and I have about 15 additional modules. The only Neptune product I’ve been disappointed with is the DDR because the optical sensors have failed repeatedly. Neptune has replaced them each time under warranty, but it’s just a pain to disconnect it, drain it, and ship it back to them.

Other than the DDR, I highly recommend the Apex. If you decide to get one, read my 8-part tutorial series on Apex programming here: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/neptune-apex-programming-tutorials-part-1.685/

 

[Waboss]

Ok, so I'm one of the folks that has had both Apex and GHL (P3 and P4). I've gone back and forth several times and am currently running an Apex (not because I feel it's any better than GHL, but because I got a great trade deal on it). There are pros and cons for each and you should do your research to determine which, if any, you decide to go with.

I first started with Apex when I had to travel a lot and needed/wanted to keep a closer eye on my tank. My Apex worked fine except the optical sensors, which seemed to fail after about a month or 2 (had this happen several times, it's actually one of the reasons I tried out GHL). I don't think Apex is "junk", but they do have some quality control issues and I'm not crazy about how their probes, or how the system reads the probes, works.

My experience with their support has been up and down, but it seems to be much better recently.

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

The only problem I have is the salinity probe and that's it every thing is been great Dos... Trident.... ATO ...ect.... So I really can't complain.

 

[DarkSky]

Most of the complaints always seem to focus around the salinity probe. I bought the Apex EL, and I'm more than happy with it. You probably could do the same and save yourself $300. As with most reviews, people are more apt to leave a review when something goes wrong. A powerbar not working out of the box is something that would quickly be replaced, so it isn't like you have to really worry about something like that.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Have one of the original of new units and only issue has been salinity probe otherwise trouble free and reliable. Best new component I've purchased !!

 

[Tastee]

I’ve had an Apex 2016 in my 65g tank since Nov 17, and overall the experience has been good. I am planning a 2nd 140g tank and will definitely be buying a second unit for that. I run the 4 standard probes, an ATK with FMM, 2 DOS heads and an AFS I use occasionally. I control my return, wavemaker, skimmer and main heater. I power my chiller with programming for a ‘fail on’. I run a small UPS with a keep-alive Apex program for short outages.

I am also seriously considering setting up an auto-fill for my RODI and AWC setup, which would mean 2 more DOS, one more FMM, a PMUP, couple of solenoids and optical sensors. I don’t have experience with GHL so can’t comment on that.

I have had an issue with the FMM a few times where it stops turning the PMUP on and needs a power cycle to get it working again. It has only happened 4 times in the nearly 2 years however and the automation alerts me to the issue as soon as it happens.

I did need to recalibrate the salinity probe a second time and spend quite a bit of time fiddling with temperature compenstation before I felt it was reliable, but think this is good practice in any case. I suggest calibrating the Ph and Salinity probes when you first setup the Apex, and for the next few months fiddle with the temperature compensation until you feel it is stable. After 3 months or so re-calibrate both probes. I haven’t had to recalibrate since then myself and they are both fairly accurate. I only use them for trend analysis in any case, not absolute readings.

Regards and happy reefing.

 

[Mical]

I have an Apex classic that is controlling 2 tanks and for the most part it's been working flawlessly. There's not much info on how to do this and I learned by making mistakes (like not naming each tanks return pump - "pump". Each input has to have it's own individual/different name. If you were to name each pump as pump, in feed mode BOTH pumps shut down.)

Other than the learning curve, the Apex has saved my "behind" a few times. IE: While out of town (I have cameras on both tanks) I noticed one of the skimmer cups about to overflow. I was able to shut skimmer off until my house-sitter was able to empty it. It shocked him when I turned it back on from 1500 miles away.

 

[foxt]

I have an Apex jr, Apex classic, and GHL p3. I have no complaints about any of them. I prefer the Apex, actually, because I find it to be more intuitive than the p3, more stuff is available second hand, and there are more users out there so I am more likely to get help on the forum. I have never had a failure of any of them.

 

[Silver14SS]

What specifically do you want a controller to do? If it’s just monitor through probes and be a controllable timer, I think any should be fine. My guess is they outsell all others combined, the volume of bad reviews is probably proportional to that.

 

[Bruce60]

I have been using an Apex on my 150gal for about six months now. As with any complex piece of equipment there is a significant learning curve. One aspect of that is proper calibration of the probes, already mentioned.

Regardless of the system you choose, my recommendation is that you start simple and add complexity as your comfort level grows. Search for information and read a lot. I actually went through most of the Apex manual and have read many different forums where programming the system is discussed. I started with the preset programs for equipment and slowly added programs. I am now adding a couple of additional modules and feel comfortable with moderate programming.

If I had started by trying to accomplish everything, I am sure I would among those bashing the product. If you take the time and patience (like everything else in this hobby), you will find it to be a good product, occasional hardware problems (mostly probes) included.